INTERVIEWS

'JVP - SLFP alliance a farce'

He further said he foresaw the proposed JVP-SLFP alliance as a 'farce' and added: "The quicker it happens the quicker the disintegration of the opposition would be."

Following are excerpts:

By Wilson Gnanadass

Q: What is the current position of the government with regard to the peace process?

A: The government after 20 months in office has been successful in bringing the then warring forces to peace.  This by itself is a tremendous victory and I guess this is owing to the sagacity and the approach   taken by the           Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the new cabinet. In this way we have basically managed to bring warring forces to the democratic process. This particular passage has a little turbulence, which will be cleared before too long.

Q: Would the present impasse after the LTTE refused to talk with the Government in any way affect the economic growth of the country?

A: Absolutely not. The very essence that though there is a break from negotiations with the government the cessation of hostilities continues is an indication that the objectives of the LTTE and the government have not changed. Therefore there is absolutely no impact on the growth rate of the country just because there was a break in discussion with the government for the simple reason both parties are looking towards lasting peace.

Q: The Vice Foreign Minister of Japan who visited Sri Lanka recently said that Japan would help Sri Lanka more provided the LTTE returned to the peace process? Do you not think this is a major concern for the Government?

A: Well I guess that is certainly an unwanted statement, because Japan, which has gone through this process before, should realise that aid on a conditional basis is unnecessary. We are a sovereign nation. We had our own internal civil disturbances and we are now coming out of it. We must realise that conditional assistance is unnecessary. We want unconditional assistance. This I am sure the Japanese will do and will move forward steadily.

Q: Though the foreign investors have pledged to invest in Sri Lanka, due to the present impasse, they are unable to fulfill their commitments. How is the government going to deal with this situation?

A: I don't think that is a factual statement because investments are coming in. There are two elements. Investments that are foreign or local. Foreign element basically comes in from a point of view of getting either a market share or a captive market in the country or an opportunity to make greater profit owing to technological conditions. At this particular moment all three objectives are achieved from a foreign direct investors point of view.  I guess these types of problems are seen worldwide. I guess people now realise that Sri Lanka is out of the biggest problem that they were facing and even the warring factions are feeling this. They have now realised that peace talks can achieve more than entering into a never win type of war. On this fundamental basis foreign direct investors have demonstrated their willingness by investing over US$270 million last year. This year we have even more promising results with free trade agreements been entered into between USA,  European Union, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore and 10 or 11 other countries. Foreign direct investors are looking at Sri Lanka in a very special way.

Q: What is expected from the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister to China?

A: Our Prime Minister's visit to China is timely, especially at a stage when China is getting into WTO and when Sri Lanka is also getting integrated into the world. Sri Lanka has had extremely cordial and warm relations with China. The Prime Minister is basically touching upon the sentiments of the Chinese leadership when Sri Lanka needs support. At this particular moment a little bit of Chinese assistance will go a long way. This is what our intention is. They have a huge export market to Sri Lanka. But we have a very small export base to China and a mismatch like this is certainly a disadvantage to Sri Lanka. What we are trying to do is to correct this by having their production base coming into Sri Lanka.

Q: PA Parliamentarian Anura Bandaranaike has said that the President can sack the cabinet and form a new government. How do you view this statement?

A: Frankly speaking Anura Bandaranaike has been making many statements ever since he left the UNP. I think the biggest national asset for the UNP is Anura Bandaranaike. I would prefer if he keeps making statements and let us perform for the country. Legally the President has the right, but here is a President who was not able to get a gazette out from the government press. I guess she knows - that the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe is doing something amidst all difficulties that have been created by some of her people.  Amidst all the obstacles and impediments created still the Premier and the UNF government are moving forward.

I must tell you that during the 19 months of our being in office we have done much more than they ever did for the last seven years. We have also undone what they have done for the last seven years in this short period of time. The President fully realises what is going on. She knows that the people of this country are accepting what the UNF government has done although going slower than what was anticipated. I leave the statements uttered by Bandaranaike to be answered by the people.

Q: Bandaranaike has also promised to identify the so-called progressive politicians who live on UNP funds while conspiring with the proposed JVP-SLFP alliance. Who are these politicians? Are you aware of them?

A: These are anarchic statements made by politicians who do not seem to have a vision and are worthless. I would like to pose this question: if he could have basically identified such a problem, would he be in the present plight that he is in today. I would tell  Mr Bandaranaike, 'please do the needful and have a successful dismantling of the opposition so that we can run our government according to the wishes and expectations of the people.'

Q: Bandaranaike also says the UNP won the last elections by illegitimate means and that the masses were given bogus promises. Would you agree with this? He has also accused the government of misleading President Kumaratunga with regard to the Prime Minister's latest proposals on the setting up of a provincial administration in the north east?

A: I guess he gets a personal thrill by saying that the UNP government gave false promises to the people. I would challenge him to give us one promise, which we have given and not fulfilled. Of course, unlike the PA government we have fulfilled our promises. We gave three promises - one was to provide a better tomorrow, the second was to end the war and bring peace and the third was the economic war with unemployment where foreign investors were moving out and companies closing down. Today we are making a positive growth. Jobs are being created, foreign investors are coming, Free Trade Agreements are being entered into and the net result of all this has resulted in a 5.5% growth. Today the people are happy and are moving forward. For the first time the cost of living index has shown a decrease of 7.2% over the last two to three years. So if you eliminate corruption and inefficiency the benefit of that could be passed on to the consumers. I would also like to remind Anura Bandaranaike when he was in the UNP he accused his own sister and the PA of lying to the people and distorting the truth, thus bringing economic chaos to the country.  How can we believe such a person. When he was in the UNP he accused the PA. When he goes to the PA he accuses us in the UNP. All I can tell him is: 'Please remain in the opposition and let us build the country.'

Q: Mundo Gas has still not taken off the ground fully. Still the court case filed by the SLPA against it is pending. What are the reasons?

A: Once again I do not want to answer on behalf of Mundo Gas. When we are trying to fight on behalf of the consumer the impression given to the people is that we are working for a particular company. I would like to say that a third company has already come in and the fourth and the fifth companies will come in before long. I understand that Mundo gas has already imported 100,000 cylinders and they are selling gas at Rs.495. I also understand that they expect to bring down the prices between Rs.350 to Rs.400 levels. The only problem is that they cannot kick off owing to the Supreme Court decision. The government has basically reduced the price but the Supreme Court decides otherwise. We have given a clear judgment, but the Supreme Court gives a different interpretation. This question should be posed to the Supreme Court.

Q: Illegal drugs are continuing to be smuggled into the country. What steps are you taking to arrest this situation?

A: On the areas of pharmaceuticals there were price controls. When we took off the price controls the prices dropped by 30%. That was in respect of 15 or 20 items. But after the STC Medical Company came in, they did parallel imports and the prices came down again. The problem is that multinational companies are basically not allowing the drugs to come because of market scheming going on.

We have been fighting virulently against this and brought in competition and prices have come down after parallel imports were done. The minister of health and his officials met our team and decided last week that there should be competition for the benefit of the consumer. We have also established the Consumer Affairs Authority and the authority is taking action with regard to distortions, black marketing and unfair trading practices.

Q: The SLFP and JVP are planning to join hands to defeat the UNF government. Would that be a reality in your view?

A: The quicker it happens the quicker the disintegration of the opposition would be. SLFP is a party that can never live by itself or govern by itself. Every time it has got into a marriage with another party it has ended up by not only being barren but also bringing disaster for themselves. Whether it was the United Front government and the left forces, whether it was an alliance with the PA and its other parties or the new found bride the JVP and the SLFP, you would ultimately find them in disaster.

I only ask this from the people of this country.  'Can you trust these types of people who are only seeking power to get political office?'  If you take the UNP you will find that from 1948 they have been at all times protecting and uplifting the country's economy. The UNP when in power always pushed the economy to high levels, but during the periods when the SLFP government was in office they had always ruined the economy and brought it to the brink of disaster. This had been the case in 1953, 1965, 1970 and also 1994.